On Monday's CBS This Morning, Norah O'Donnell gave Attorney General Loretta Lynch a platform to condemn voter I.D. initiatives in many states. O'Donnell raised the controversial issue during a special edition of the morning newscast that promoted the new National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C. She wondered, "Is it still harder for minorities to vote in this country?" Lynch contended that "we are still dealing with the vestiges of inequality, and people who have trouble accepting everyone's full participation in American society." [video below]
The anchor spent most of the interview spotlighting Lynch's family's role in the civil rights movement. O'Donnell brought in the politicized legal topic near the end of the segment. She first played up that "federal courts [across] the country...have issued decisions striking down or requiring changes to voter I.D. laws that have disproportionately hurt minorities." She continued with her "still harder" question, as her show ran file photos of Black Lives Matter protests.
Lynch simply replied that "we are still seeing, unfortunately, some situations where it is harder for minorities to vote in this country. " O'Donnell followed up with a softball question: "How are people trying to make it harder for them to vote?" The attorney general underlined that "some of the voter I.D. laws that we have seen have put in place some requirements that do not accept the most commonly-held I.D.'s that students may have...but will accept other I.D.'s that are typically not found in the minority community...we'll actually see...discussions about how to suppress the vote."
The transcript of the relevant portion of the Loretta Lynch interview on the September 12, 2016 edition of CBS This Morning:
NORAH O'DONNELL: You know, it strikes me, though: one of the interesting things — because you are the chief law enforcement officer — one of the things is the ability to vote—
[CBS News Graphic: "Justice For All: AG Lynch On Courts Striking Down Voter ID Laws'"]
LORETTA LYNCH, U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: Yes—
O'DONNELL: Voter I.D. laws in — federal courts [across] the country now have struck down — have issued decisions striking down or requiring changes to voter I.D. laws that have disproportionately hurt minorities. Is it still harder for minorities to vote in this country?
LYNCH: You know, we are still seeing, unfortunately, some situations where it is harder for minorities to vote in this country.
O'DONNELL: How are people trying to make it harder for them to vote?
LYNCH: You know, I think it's also looking at — at it making it harder for young people; for elderly people; but in particular, minorities. And some of the voter I.D. laws that we have seen have put in place some requirements that do not accept the most commonly-held I.D.'s that students may have — that people who have certain types of jobs may have, but will accept other I.D.'s that are typically not found in the minority community — or we'll actually see, in some of the cases that we've filed, discussions about how to suppress the vote. That shows that this is an evolving issue. We are still dealing with the vestiges of inequality, and people who have trouble accepting everyone's full participation in American society. But when we are all involved, we're all stronger.
